Punjab Kings  179 for 5 (Rahul 91*, Gayle 46, Jamieson 2-32) beat  Royal Challengers Bangalore  145 for 8 (Kohli 35, Brar 3-19, Bishnoi 2-17) by 34 runs In three previous IPL matches, stretched across as many seasons, Harpreet Brar had failed to take a wicket with his left-arm spin, while being dispatched at close to ten an over. All that was forgotten in the space of seven incredible deliveries, as Brar extracted three of the most prized scalps in the tournament without conceding a single run, to set the Punjab Kings up for a precious and timely victory over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Ahmedabad. Brar's dismissals of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers ensured that the closing overs of the Kings' defence of 180 were a formality, as the Royal Challengers could manage only 145 for 8 and lost by 34 runs - their second defeat in three matches, meaning they squandered the chance to leapfrog the Chennai Super Kings at ...

  Prithvi Shaw slammed 50 off 18 balls   BCCI/IPL Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email Print Delhi Capitals  156 for 3 (Shaw 82, Dhawan 46, Cummins 3-24) beat  Kolkata Knight Riders  154 for 6 (Russell 45*, Gill 43, Yadav 2-13) by seven wickets Prithvi Shaw provided a masterclass in how to kill a T20 chase in the first over, as the Delhi Capitals romped to a commanding seven-wicket win against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Having put up 154 for 6 thanks to a late Andre Russell flourish, the Knight Riders might have thought they had a fighting chance to defend that total if they bowled well. However, Shaw took one over to blow that idea to smithereens. Shivam Mavi, who had given up only 13 runs in four overs in the Knight Riders' last game against the Punjab Kings, ended up giving that many off just his first three legal balls this time around. At the end of the first over, Mavi might have thought that the first ball ...

  Mumbai Indians  172 for 3 (de Kock 70*, Krunal 39, Morris 2-33) beat  Rajasthan Royals  171 for 4 (Samson 42, Buttler 41, Chahar 2-33) by seven wickets Quinton de Kock's unbeaten 70 off 50 balls consolidated the Mumbai Indians' position in the top four on the points table as they defeated the Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in Delhi. Chasing for the first time in IPL 2021, de Kock's knock ensured Mumbai never let the asking rate become an issue. Krunal Pandya supported him well with a 26-ball 39 as Mumbai reached the target with nine balls to spare. Earlier, Rohit Sharma put the Royals in on a pitch he reckoned was much better to bat on than the slow tracks of Chennai. Jos Buttler (41 off 32) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (32 off 20) gave the Royals a 66-run start in 7.4 overs before both fell to Rahul Chahar. Sanju Samson, too, struck a 27-ball 42 but Shivam Dube's 35 off 31 didn't let the Royals reach where they wanted to. Buttler, Jaiswal make up for slo...

  Chennai Super Kings  173 for 3 (Gaikwad 75, du Plessis 56, Rashid 3-36) beat  Sunrisers Hyderabad  171 for 3 (Pandey 61, Williamson 26*, Ngidi 2-35) by seven wickets Four contrasting half-centuries told the story of the Chennai Super Kings' seven-wicket victory over the Sunrisers Hyderabad, with the victors climbing back to the top of the IPL 2021 points table. The vanquished, meanwhile, remained in last place. David Warner chose to bat in the tournament's first game in Delhi, saying he did so "because we haven't done it yet", in an effort to change the Sunrisers' fortunes. However, a middling effort with the bat gave the team only a par total of 171 for 3. Warner himself scored a laboured half-century while the returning Manish Pandey made 61 off 46, but both left the strong feeling that some runs had been left out in the middle. That was proven true when Ruturaj Gaikwad continued his resurgence with an incandescent 75 off 44 - not hitting...

  Royal Challengers Bangalore  171 for 5 (de Villiers 75*, Patidar 31, Harshal 2-37) beat  Delhi Capitals  170 for 4 (Pant 58*, Hetmyer 53*) by one run With Rishabh Pant and Shimron Hetmyer set in the middle and the Delhi Capitals needing 14 to win, the batting side held the edge going into the final over of the chase. However, Mohammed Siraj conceded only 12 to hand Royal Challengers Bangalore a one-run win that lifted them back to the top of the IPL 2021 points table. The Capitals were struggling, having lost their first three wickets early in the 172 chase, but Hetmyer's 23-ball fifty brought them back into the contest. However, with 10 needed in the last two balls, and Hetmyer losing strike, all Pant could do was hit two fours, leaving both unbeaten batters on their haunches after the narrow defeat. That the Royal Challengers reached 171 for 5 after losing the toss was courtesy another masterclass from AB de Villiers. While...

  Kolkata Knight Riders  126 for 5 (Morgan 47*, Tripathi 41, Henriques 1-5) beat  Punjab Kings  123 for 9 (Agarwal 31, Jordan 30, Krishna 3-30, Narine 2-22) by five wickets Eoin Morgan's 47 not out off 40 balls steered the Kolkata Knight Riders to victory with five wickets and 20 balls to spare after his bowlers restricted the Punjab Kings to 123 for 9 in the first game of IPL 2021 in Ahmedabad. It wasn't a smooth ride though. At one stage, the Knight Riders were 17 for 3 but a 66-run stand between Morgan and Rahul Tripathi shut the door on the Kings. During his innings, Morgan also completed 7000 runs in T20 cricket and helped his side climb from the bottom of the points table to the fifth spot. Eoin Morgan believes IPL can go on With India experiencing a significant second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan was posed a question at the post-match press conference about whether he thinks the IPL should go on. He respond...

Delhi Capitals  159 for 4 (Shaw 53, Pant 37, Kaul 2-31) tied with  Sunrisers Hyderabad  159 for 7 (Williamson 66*, Bairstow 38, Avesh 3-34) Delhi Capitals win the one-over eliminator Kane Williamson once again masked the Sunrisers' lack of middle-order firepower and took them as far as the Super Over. But that final hurdle just proved too much. The Delhi Capitals' Axar Patel, only recently recovered from Covid-19, was chosen ahead of Kagiso Rabada, the Super Over expert, to bowl in the most intense conditions, and through artful changes of pace and vicious use of angles to cramp the batters, he restricted Sunrisers to seven. It could have been eight but the third umpire spotted a very tight short run by David Warner. People will debate the choice not to send Jonny Bairstow, who struck at 211 on the night, for the Super Over. But that will end up in the footnote of this engrossing game as Rishabh Pant persevered against Rashid Khan, reverse swattin...

  Chennai Super Kings  191 for 4 (Jadeja 62*, du Plessis 50) beat  Royal Challengers Bangalore  122 for 9 (Padikkal 34, Jadeja 3-13) by 69 runs A stunning assault of 36 runs off his bat in the final over, the prize wickets of Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers, and a spectacular direct hit to run out Dan Christian made Ravindra Jadeja the star as the Chennai Super Kings handed the Royal Challengers Bangalore their first loss of IPL 2021. With their fourth straight win in five games, the Super Kings also snatched the top table position with a 69-run win in Mumbai. RCB penalised for slow over-rate Virat Kohli, the Royal Challengers captain, has been fined Rs 12 lakh after his team maintained a slow over-rate against the Super Kings. It was the team's first over-rate offence of the season. Jadeja first launched five sixes in the Super Kings' final over to lift them from 154 to 191 and then bowled Maxwell and de Villiers in consecutive overs to reduce the Royal C...